Here are some of the previous health issues the King has faced.
Enlarged prostate
The King’s health has been in the spotlight already this year.
On 17 January, he was diagnosed with a benign condition while staying at Birkhall in Aberdeenshire, after going for a check up because he was experiencing symptoms.
He underwent surgery for the enlarged prostate, and it is understood he wanted to share the news to encourage other men to get themselves checked.
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The NHS reported huge boosts in people asking to find out more about the condition affecting the King.
The King, who only acceded to throne 16 months ago, cancelled engagements and was urged to rest by his doctors ahead of the corrective procedure.
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One in every three men over the age of 50 will have symptoms of an enlarged prostate, which include needing to visit the toilet more frequently, with more urgency, and difficulty emptying the bladder.
An enlarged prostate, known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, does not usually pose a serious threat to health, and it is not cancer.
Early polo injuries
In one of his earlier polo-related injuries, he was thrown and kicked by his pony and needed six stitches in 1980.
Image: The King used to play polo regularly, which resulted in several injuries over the years. Pic: PA
He suffered a two-inch crescent scar on his left cheek after that incident.
He was also hit in the throat on another occasion, causing him to lose his voice for 10 days.
The monarch resisted pressure to give up polo after he collapsed in 1980 at the end of a game in Florida and had to be put on a saline drip.
Avalanche near-miss
In 1988, while skiing off piste at Klosters on one of Europe’s most dangerous runs, he narrowly escaped an avalanche that killed his good friend Major Hugh Lindsay, who was a former equerry to Queen Elizabeth II.
He jumped to a ledge and helped save the life of another friend, Patti Palmer-Tomkinson, by digging her out of snow and keeping her conscious until a helicopter arrived.
He would later say he had never seen anything so terrifying.
Knee surgery
In March 1998, the King – then Prince Charles – had laser keyhole surgery on his right knee.
That came six years after an operation to repair torn cartilage in his left knee after a polo injury.
The outdoor and active Prince of Wales also suffered from back pain at the time, which had been aggravated over years of playing polo.
He never travelled on royal tours without a special cushion, usually a tartan one, which he used to ease back pain.
Broken rib
In the same year, he broke a rib when he fell from his horse in a hunting accident.
Double arm break
Image: The then Prince of Wales leaving hospital after breaking his arm in 1990. Pic: PA
The King has over the years had some form for falling from his horse in a polo game.
In June 1990 he broke his arm in two places and spent three nights in Cirencester Memorial Hospital in Gloucestershire after an accident in a competitive game of polo.
When he left hospital, he was reported to have told journalists outside “you can all go home at last”, as he got into his car.
He needed another operation three months later after one of the fractures didn’t properly heal.
It is understood bone was taken from his hip to help with healing the break, while a metal plate was also fitted with screws.
Shoulder fracture
In January 2001, he fractured a bone in his shoulder after falling off his horse during a fox hunt in Derbyshire.
Image: The Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre in Nottingham, where the King was treated for the shoulder injury. Pic: PA
He had to wear a sling for several days while the fracture healed.
Knocked unconscious
Just a few months later, in August, he was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure for what was described as a minor injury.
But he had been knocked unconscious when his horse threw him during a polo match, leading to him being stretchered off and taken by ambulance.
It is reported he fell halfway through the second half of a charity polo match in Cirencester in Gloucestershire.
Hernia operation
Two years later, in March 2003, the King had a routine operation for a hernia, and reportedly joked afterwards “hernia today, gone tomorrow”.
It’s not clear how he picked up the injury, which is a common operation.
Growth removed
In 2008, he had a non-cancerous growth removed from the bridge of his nose in a routine procedure.
Catching COVID
In March 2020, the monarch, then 71, caught COVID before vaccinations were available.
His symptoms were mild and he isolated at Birkhall.
He lost his sense of taste and smell for a time, and later described it as “strange, frustrating and often distressing” being without friends and relatives over lockdown.
He was infected for a second time in February 2022, but at that point he was triple-vaccinated.
Appendix operation
In one of his earliest known admissions to hospital, the young prince was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital for an appendix operation as a 13-year-old in February 1962.
He declared on a later visit: “I got here just in time before the thing exploded and was happily operated on and looked after by the nurses.”
‘Sausage fingers’
Image: The King has long been aware of his large fingers. Pic: PA
Concern has been expressed over the years at his “sausage fingers” amid fears they might be due to fluid build-up or other conditions.
While any details around the cause – if any exist – have not been made public, the King has been aware of his puffy fingers for decades.
“He really does look surprisingly appetising and has sausage fingers just like mine,” he wrote in 1982 to a friend after the birth of his first son, William.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.
And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.
There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.
Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.
Image: Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat
The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.
A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.
Image: Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene
As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.
Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.
Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.
The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.
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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.
We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.
They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.
In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.